Guest Blogged by DES
As we related in yesterday’s ‘Green News Report,’ the federal auto-stimulus program Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) — popularly nicknamed ‘Cash for Clunkers’ — launched this week in earnest. The program is intended to help spur consumers to trade in old gas guzzlers with a virtual cash rebate of up to $4500, in exchange for purchasing a car, truck, or SUV with better (even just slightly better) mileage. After compromising on an initially proposed $4 billion program, Congress approved $1 billion in funding for the program, to be paid directly to car dealers, with a deadline of November 1st to file the paperwork.
Well, not long after airtime yesterday, and just four days after the program began in full, ‘Cash for Clunkers’ appears to have been so wildly popular that it had already run out of money.
According to the New York Times, the Transportation Department had asked car dealers around the country to stop offering the rebate program while officials determine the next course of action. By late this morning, however, they report, the White House has issued a statement that the program will continue at least through this weekend. “There’s apparently too many clunkers and not enough cash,” the Times’ Richard Change notes.
As of yesterday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had said the program was not suspended, as had initially been reported, and that the administration was “assessing the situation.” He added, “all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored.” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is said to be working with Congress to discuss ways to increase funding to extend the wildly popular program.
With the rebates ranging from $3,500 to $4,500 — dependent on the miles per gallon of the trade-in compared to the new car purchased — the $1 billion in funding was intended to cover about 250,000 new cars. Dealers have been collecting applications for the rebates since July 1st, in advance of the publication of the final rules and qualifying vehicles on Monday. Although the Department of Transportation reports a backlog of applications waiting to be processed, they reported they had already received approximately a quarter million applications as of Thursday night.
UPDATE: The U.S. House passed a bill late Friday to provide an additional $2 billion in funding for the CARS program, by diverting funds from a Department of Energy loan guarantee program. The Senate is expected to act next week, although CNN.com reports the “bill will face tough opposition in the Senate.”
The program was stupid because it didn’t mandate that the new cars purchased be highly fuel efficient, small cars. If you had a giant gas hog, you could get the cash for clunkers deal to by a HUMMER, literally, as many actually did.
This could have been an effective program. Instead, it’s just a giveaway to the automotive industry. It’ll end up exacerbating the problem.
I’m surprised at how many people turned in their cars.
{Comment deleted. Long ago banned and abusive user.}
I give who is this idiot. Jeff Melchizidik Gabriel Fisher! I followed his link and now feel he is even more of an idiot.
Can I buy that pickup/van in the picture? Is that for sale?
Did you ever notice, that if a Democrat does something wildly popular for the people, reputable conservatives & conservative sites will IGNORE it? And bad ones like Glen Beck will actually “make shit up” about it? Like they’re trying to control you?
But the more important point is: reputable conservatives and conservative sites CANNOT ADMIT when a Democrat does something wildly popular for the people!
Ever notice this? They simply IGNORE it, like it didn’t happen. It would KILL them to offer a compliment about it!
Glen Beck would make up something along the lines of: “They’re putting bugs in the cars to listen in on you” or something like that.
Reputable conservatives will simly ignore the wildly popular “cash for clunkers”.
I can’t even imagine what FOX “news” will say about it. They’ll make some shit up! Something to scare people not to do it.
I got it: they’ll say it’s “not fair”, and get people fighting about it. They’ll say that people with gas guzzlers are being “rewarded”. Is that dead on? Or what?
PAUL MCCARTNEY IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN SOCIALIST WHO PALS AROUND WITH TERRORISTS AND GOT CASH FOR CLUNKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paul McCartney dedicates love song ‘Michelle’ to Michelle Obama during Washington D.C.
http://www.nydailynews.com/goss...dc_concer.html
That’ll be rightwing media’s Monday headlines, because McCartney dedicated a song to Michelle Obama.
FOX “news” breaking: “PAUL IS DEAD” WAS TRUE!!! THIS IS AN ALIEN!!!”
I wonder how many of these dealers are faking paperwork to get the money? Not too hard to do, and I’m pretty sure oversight is about as lax as what’s happened with all the money shoveled into Goldman Sachs gaping maw.
The Cash for Clunkers is a joke! Me and my wife were at two Wichita area dealerships this past weekend and got the run around! I generally do not suppourt a program such as this but for many reasons we are in the market for a new vehicle… We were given the run around in a onging this is what we have take it or leave mentality from the dealerships and in the end we just wasted our time and never got into a car even though we qualified! I am only working part time now but my wife works full time… In the end with one dealerships the ultimate reason was that I was not employed full time that kept me from driving a brand new fuel efficient car. What I need is a job! Not a program I cannot take advantage of but will ultimately pay for anyways.
Doug